A Christmas Miracle
by CastielhasthePhoneBox
Summary: Castiel has nowhere to go to for Christmas this year, so Dean invites him home to the Winchesters'.


_This is sort of a continuation of Back to School, but can be read on it's own as well. Enjoy! And Happy Holidays, everyone!_

Dean bit his lip and thought back on the last few months, thought back on everything Cas had and hadn't said about what was going on with his family.

He had finally come out, officially, at Thanksgiving. From what Dean got out of the jumbled phone call later that night, his father had merely walked out of the room without a word. His eldest brother, Michael then proceeded to tell him not to come back until he had "realized the error of his ways", and then called him a taxi to the airport. Dean ended up coming back to school early in order to be with him and it had been a pretty rough few days. Castiel still wasn't really over the fact that most of his family didn't want him to come back just because of the fact that he was gay.

This was why Castiel had decided to go so far away to school in the first place—to get away from his family so he could be himself (although why he decided that Kansas was the place to go to escape and be free with his sexuality Dean would never understand). It was also why, while Dean had his duffel bag packed and ready to go on winter break, Castiel was sitting on his bed reading a book. (Probably getting ahead for next semester. Nerd.)

Licking his lips thoughtfully, Dean mulled over an idea in his head briefly, trying to be an adult and actually think it through before he just blabbed it out. Then he figured, what the hell. What could go wrong?

"Come home with me," he said abruptly.

Cas looked up from his book with a startled expression on his face.

"What?"

Dean bit his lip again and then looked away because it was suddenly hot and his cheeks were flushed—he was most certainly _not _blushing—and repeated, "Come home with me."

Castiel continued to look at him as if he had suggested they go to a rave and try acid (and hey, that had been once and he had had no idea that it was going to be like _that_).

"My mom'll love you," he continued, stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep from fidgeting. "And you already know Sammy—the kid practically worships the ground you walk on. I swear to god, he thinks you're an actual angel. And my dad… Well, he'll like you so long as you never, ever let him quiz you about cars. Just. I mean, it'd be hilarious, but no. And Bobby, man, he pretends to be all about cars and shit, but you know the guys speaks friggin' Japanese? And you know Jo. Her mom's kinda scary, but she's great…"

He trailed off because Castiel had started to laugh. And maybe because he might have been babbling. You know. If Dean Winchester ever _babbled. _

"Is that a yes…?" Dean asked hopefully. He didn't know why this was suddenly so important, but the thought of Castiel alone in the building for nearly a month was so freaking depressing that it made his heart ache in a funny sort of way.

Castiel stopped laughing and looked slightly sheepish—an odd look on the usually sure guy. "Are you sure your parents would be okay with that? I mean, it's three and a half weeks. I don't want to be a burden…"

Dean rolled his eyes and finally crossed the room to sit on the bed with his boyfriend.

"Cas, they'll love you, trust me," he reassured him, leaning in so his side was pressed up against his boyfriend's.

"But they don't…" Castiel didn't look at him, or finish his sentence, but Dean knew what he was trying to ask.

"Yeah, well, they had to find out sometime, eh?" he said flippantly, even though the idea of introducing his boyfriend as, well, his _boyfriend_ to his family made his stomach tie into weird little knots that he thought he had gotten over by now. He was comfortable in his sexuality and he really, really liked Castiel. He didn't want to feel ashamed for the way he felt, even if he had had to really cover up the fact that he didn't just swing for one team during high school. Still the thought of telling his dad, who had taught him from when he was tiny what it meant to be a man, and to act like one.

Castiel didn't in anyway look reassured by that statement, so Dean flung an arm around his shoulder.

"I promise you," he said, tilting his head so that it rested against Castiel's, "that even if it's a little weird at first, they'll get over it."

All of which is how Dean found himself sitting, two days later, at the kitchen table with Castiel while his mom rummaged through the fridge for the makings of lunch for everyone.

"So Castiel," Mrs. Winchester said, bringing out sliced meat and cheese. "What is it you're studying again?"

They had met before, back when the Winchesters helped Dean move in freshman year, but they hadn't really seen each other much since. As far as Castiel was concerned, this was the first real meeting and he had to make the perfect impression. For someone as socially awkward as him, that was difficult, which is why he had decided that the best route would be to really think about what he said before he said it.

After an incredibly long pause in which he no doubt carefully considered every word, Castiel finally told her, "Well, I was in finances, but I've decided to switch my major to environmental sciences."

She raised a brow and replied, "That's a pretty big change."

He shrugged, but didn't respond, probably because it wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Dean supplied, "Cas was only doing finances 'cause his family was forcing him. He's really into all that science-y hippie stuff."

He turned to Castiel, who was positively red from Dean's statement, and grinned.

"Dean, you know it's not just 'hippie stuff'," he reprimanded seriously. "Our environment is an invaluable and not indistinguishable resource."

Without thinking about what he was doing, Dean kissed the corner of his mouth and murmured, "I know."

Then he pulled back, realizing what he had done. Castiel's eyes were wide in shock and Dean mentally berated his idiocy because, god, why couldn't he ever think about things before he did them? He was so used to being able to be _with _Castiel in public, he hadn't even thought about it. Now though, he realized that this was definitely not the way he had wanted to come out to his mom.

Knowing it was inevitable, he turned back to see what his mother's reaction was… but she was just laying out lettuce on bread as if nothing had happened.

Maybe she hadn't seen?

He breathed a sigh of relief in time with Castiel, who had obviously come to the same conclusion he had. He was actually planning on telling everyone about him and Castiel soon, before Christmas, he just wasn't sure how.

Sam knew, of course, but that had been obvious the first time he came over and spent the night in their dorm. Dean had slept in Castiel's bed so Sam could take his bed. If that hadn't been obvious enough, then Dean's getting drunk later that night and climbing into Castiel's lap probably did it.

He had no idea how his mom would react though. Didn't even want to think about how his dad would take it. The problem was, he didn't want to keep his relationship a secret, as if it were something to be ashamed of. Besides, he was certain that his family would never react as dramatically as Castiel's had.

His dad came home from work later that day with that gleam in his eye that Dean knew meant he had work for his son to do. Groaning inwardly, Dean dragged Castiel out to the garage with him, where John was currently criticizing the way he was keeping the Impala.

"And you've been checking _everything?_" he demanded, looking dubious.

"Yeah, Dad," he answered, eyes flicking over to where Castiel was standing awkwardly. As if reading the turn in his son's thoughts, John's eyes landed on Castiel then.

"And what about you?" he shot in his direction, not unkind, but not forgiving either. "What do you know about cars?"

Castiel's eyes flew open wider than seemed possible and he stuttered some sort of incomprehensible response before looking over at his boyfriend with pure panic in his eyes.

"Cars aren't really Cas's thing," Dean put in nonchalantly. The predatory look on his father's face was enough to make him want to grab the blue-eyed boy and run. Somehow, miraculously, he refrained.

"And you haven't even tried to teach him anything, after being roommates for a year and a half now?" Mr. Winchester scoffed, looking at his eldest son with disappointment and then looking back over at Castiel with a certain kind of glee in his eye. Castiel stepped back nervously, but Dean laid his hand on his back with a sigh of resignation. Knowing that this was a pretty decent way to make a good impression, Cas nodded and looked back at the older Winchester with a set jaw.

Christmas dinner was a pretty big deal in the Winchester household. They invited the Harvelles and Bobby, each of whom brought something for dinner. Mary cooked the main course, enlisting Dean (and this year, Castiel) to help out in the kitchen, after shooing Sam out. Sam was… not a good cook. Mary had tried valiantly to teach him, but after three ruined dinners and two fires, she had thoroughly given up. Dean was really good in the kitchen and, though he would never admit it, he actually really liked cooking.

With the addition of Castiel in the kitchen helping out (he mostly read the recipe since he hadn't really ever cooked before), they had a nice system going, so that they had the ham in the oven relatively quickly. Mary looked immensely pleased, and Dean had to say that they usually weren't so organized.

"Thank you, Castiel," she said, smiling at him while she wiped her hands off on her dark blue apron.

Just then, the sound of Bobby's truck erupted in the front yard and John came running into the kitchen from the garage, trailing car oil into the kitchen.

"John! What have I told you about wiping your feet when you come in? I just mopped yesterday!"

John waved back at her and proceeded to track oily steps through the rest of the house while his wife yelled at him that, "you can clean the goddamn carpet yourself!"

Castiel looked shocked by the exchange, but Dean just shrugged. His parents yelling at each other wasn't exactly new. His mom would yell now, his dad would yell later (hopefully after Christmas) and then someone would end up cleaning the carpets and it would start again some other day. They still loved each other. It was just rocky sometimes.

"Come on, Cas," Dean ushered Castiel, who looked back at the oven nervously, out of the kitchen. "I want you to meet Uncle Bobby."

Sam had invited his girlfriend, whose family didn't celebrate Christmas, to come over for dinner. Her name was Amy, and after her snarky response to Dean's flirtations—hey, it was all in good fun—Dean decided that he approved.

"Good find, Sammy," Dean patted his baby brother on the head, making Sam jerk back in response.

"Dean!" he hissed, obviously trying to look cool in front of the girl. "Go be with your boyfriend and leave Amy alone. Jeez."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Bitch."

"Jerk."

Smiling to himself, Dean did as his genius little brother had suggested and pulled his boyfriend away from the conversation he was having with Bobby (about strange weather patters?).

"C'mon, Cas," he groaned. "Give me attention."

Castiel rolled his eyes but let himself be pulled out of the main room with a small smile on his face. Dean stopped when they reached the hallway near the stairs, where it was much quieter, and stuck his hand in his pocket.

"I'm glad you came, Cas," Dean murmured, stepping closer to the guy he was pretty sure he was in love with, but whom he hadn't told yet. "And I… got a little something."

Castiel pulled away, scowling. "Dean, I thought we weren't exchanging gifts."

Dean just grinned and pulled a small bit of what Castiel, having never actually seen it in reality, thought looked like _mistletoe._

"Think of it as a gift for myself," he whispered, raising the mistletoe over their heads and pressing their lips together. The mistletoe was forgotten quickly, dropped onto the floor at some point as their bodies pressed together. Dean held Castiel's face between his hands while the dark haired boy placed his hands on his boyfriend's hips to pull him impossibly closer.

"_What the hell?"_

They broke apart as if they had had ice water dumped on them, turning to find a shocked Mr. Winchester standing in the hallway with them.

Dean bit his lip and then pulled Castiel back to him.

"Um, well, I was gonna tell you…"

"That what?" He shouted, looking horrified. "You're _gay_?"

Sighing, he muttered, "Not _gay_… I'm just, y'know. With Cas. Like as boyfriends."

Dean tended to think of his father as extremely confrontational, so him storming out was probably the exact last thing he expected. Swallowing, he turned to Cas and assured him, "It'll be fine."

Holding hands now, they returned to the living room where everyone else was standing, now silent and staring. They had heard.

Mary pursed her lips and then pulled her elder son into a hug.

"I was wondering when you would tell us," she told him, pulling away. Dean stiffened in her arms and stepped back.

"Wait, you _knew?" _

She just shot him a look and answered, "I suspected. And I don't think things have changed so much since I was younger that roommates generally kiss each other on the cheek."

Blushing, he turned to the room and they all looked back with the same sheepish looks.

"You _all _knew?"

He turned to glare at Jo, who shrugged and said, "Hey, you try keeping a secret like that from my mom!"

Ellen just smiled at him and Bobby looked at him as if he were stupid. "What kind of an idjit d'you take me for, boy?"

Castiel started laughing then and Dean asked, "Then why is Dad so mad?"

Mary took a deep breath and explained, "He's just surprised is all. Just give him some time to cool down."

Dean sighed and looked at Castiel, who shrugged. "This is going much better than it went with my parents."

When John finally returned just as they were getting ready to sit down to dinner, his breath smelling lightly of whiskey. Fearing there was about to be some kind of drunken meltdown, Dean jerked up from the table and rushed to the door to meet him.

"Dad," he started, hoping to keep this all to a minimum for Castiel's sake.

John held up a hand and Dean had to admit that he didn't _look _drunk.

"No, wait," he said. He didn't _sound_ drunk either. "Do you care about him?"

Having expected something completely different, Dean just stared at his father for several moments. "Yeah," he answered finally. "Yeah, I do."

Nodding, John patted him on the shoulder and told him, "Good. Good. Do we need to talk about this? You've been using protection right?"

Dean stared some more and then shook his head frantically. "No! No, we don't need to talk about it. And I mean. Yeah. Well, we don't need to. God. I didn't mean to say that."

John nodded and said, "Let's go have dinner."

He watched his dad walk back into the living room but couldn't seem to move himself. After what may have been several minutes or several days for all Dean was paying attention, Castiel joined him in the entryway.

"What just happened?" he asked, looking at Cas with wide eyes.

Castiel shrugged and suggested, "A Christmas miracle?"

That was what finally broke him from his shock. He grinned at his boyfriend and pulled him in for a hug.

"God, I love you, Cas," he breathed into his neck.

Castiel froze and asked, "What?"

Realizing what he had just admitted, Dean pulled back and repeated, "I love you, Castiel. So friggin' much. But, I mean, it's okay if you don't wanna say it back. Seriously. I get it."

Castiel stared at him for a long time, long enough that Dean knew he really wasn't going to say it back. And yeah. He had literally just said that he would understand if he didn't feel the same way, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

"Dean, I've loved you practically since we first met," Castiel gasped, just when Dean had given up hope. He must have looked skeptical because Cas smiled then and added, "Perhaps not right when we met. But after that first semester, definitely. I love you, Dean."

Later, when they told the story about this night, both claimed that they had kissed the other first, but secretly thought that the other had. In reality it would seem they both moved in to kiss each other at the same time. It didn't really matter anyway. They loved each other and it really did seem as if they had had a Christmas miracle. Dean's entire family was fine with them being together and really, what was better than that?

Dean broke away from the kiss to catch his breath and leaned his forehead against his boyfriend's.

"Merry Christmas, Cas."

"Merry Christmas, Dean."


End file.
